GNOME enthusiasts have a couple of good options when it comes to searching, launching, and otherwise manipulating and accessing files, applications, and information right from the desktop: GNOME-Do, and the GNOME Deskbar applet.

GNOME-Do is a desktop search and application-launching applet similar to the now-defunct GNOME Launchbox. It's inspired by Quicksilver, an applet for Apple's Mac OS X operating system. Do was built for the GNOME desktop but also runs on KDE. Developers call Do an "intelligent launcher tool" because it uses predictive technology to guess what you want to do when you start typing the first few letters of the name of an application, file, or contact.

openSUSE 11.0
GNOME Do is installed by default but it's version 0.4 and new plugins aren't compatible with this version. To install the newest version just click here.

Fedora
GNOME do is in the repos for all stable Fedora releases and the development branch, use the graphical tools to install it or invoke the following as root:

# yum install gnome-do

Usage
Start GNOME Do by selecting the GNOME Do entry in the Applications > Accessories menu, or by executing the command:

$ gnome-do

Once the application is running, you can summon it by pressing Super + Space. On most keyboards the super key is the same as the Windows key or the Command key. If you'd like to use a different keybinding for GNOME Do

You should see a dialog with a search icon and two panes in the center of your screen. The pane on the left is the item pane, which shows the item you have selected, and the pane on the right is the action pane, which shows the action you wish to perform on the item.

Type in the left pane to search for an item, anything from programs, to contacts, to albums, to text can be used as an item. Pressing Tab will switch you from the Item pane to the Action pane, allowing you to select an action to perform on that item, by typing its name. All panes of gnome-do have autocomplete (so you don't have to type the full name of an item or action), and active learning, so your most used items come up first when searched. Hitting Enter at any time will perform the action on the right to the item on the left, such as running a program, opening a bookmark, sending an e-mail, etc.